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UN plan to curb mercury poisoning

UN environment programme hopes to draft treaty to limit use of toxic metal.

04 Nov 2011 20:52 GMT

Mercury is one of the earth's most toxic elements, and one that seeps into the environment through a number of industrial processes.

The single biggest source of mercury emissions, coal-fired power stations, account for 26 per cent of the metal leaked into the environment. But village miners also use tonnes of it when extracting gold.

World bodies are now attempting to work out a plan to reduce mercury poisoning.

The United Nations environment programme held a conference in Nairobi, attended by delegates from 120 countries, in the hope of drafting a global treaty that would limit use of the toxic metal.